THE BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

WRITING ON WALL FOR PENCIL AND PAPER ELECTORAL ROLLS

August 29, 2013 Leanne Nicholson

Over the decades little has changed at polling centres on election day.
Long lines of impatient voters wind around fundraising sausage sizzles set up to lure and distract hungry captive audiences.
Discarded how-to-vote cards sprinkle the paths to polling
booths while voters weave in and out of bunting to avoid the avalanche
of party faithful ready to thrust candidate information into
unresponsive hands.

This federal election, gone are the pencils and
rulers... laptops and flat screens are making their debut for
Australia's first trial of electronic federal electoral rolls.

Finally, you've made it to the big tin shed or school gym and
wait to have your name and address found among all the other "Smiths"
and "Browns" in the important-looking folder.
Once located, your name is neatly marked off the electoral
roll, or certified list, with a super-sharp pencil guided in a straight
line by the federal government-sponsored ruler.
However, for this federal election, gone are the
sharp-at-the-ready pencils and trusty rulers and in their places are
laptops and flat screens for Australia's first trial of electronic
federal electoral rolls.
The trial has begun at early polling centres and mobile
polling teams around the country and varies widely as locations range
from the super booth Sydney Town Hall to one remote polling station at
the seat of Lingiari, which covers an area of approximately 1 352 371
square kilometres of the Northern Territory, including Christmas Island
and Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
Eighty-two mobile polling teams have started the trial and
replaced paper certified lists for electronic versions. On September 7,
60 polling booths across Australia will mark off voters electronically.
Australian Electoral Commission Western Australian spokesman
Brendan Barlow said the trail was being carried out at selected
locations to determine the feasibility of electronic electoral rolls
compared with paper lists."There are 7000 polling places across Australia and to set up
in every polling place would be a huge cost so that something that
needs to be taken into consideration," Mr Barlow said.There always has been a cost to stage an election, is the Australian Electoral Commission seeking to lower their business costs so they can turn a profit?Mr Barlow said some notebooks had the ability to print House
of Representatives ballot papers for any electorate on demand, helping
to cover the potential requirements of interstate voters.What does this have to do with electronic voting?
"I don't think we'll ever get away from paper," Mr Barlow said.
"There's a certain comfort level for people with paper but
certainly in the longer term we will definitely be progressing towards
this technology for people to vote."
It has taken 95 years for one of Australia's oldest
traditions to take a tentative step into the present when in February
this year the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Improving Electoral
Procedure) Bill amended the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 and enabled
the ability to record electronically against an approved list of voters.
Mr Barlow said updating to digital reduced the risk of human error–is this A.E.C staffer saying that the A.E.C have been buggering up the vote counts in previous elections? If the answer is no then there is no need to change the voting format. If the answer is yes then electronic voting will not reduce the incompetence or avarice that has plagued other elections– and enabled easier identification of multiple voting.This is a puff piece advertorial for the new voting cistern that some people will encounter. Interesting that the media did not talk about the changes to statutes that has allowed this move to take place. This is especially interesting if you consider the problems with electronic voting in America.
He said "less than 1 per cent" of people eligible voted more
than once in elections and, of the percentage, there was no sinister
reason behind the multiple voting.
"It's usually the elderly who have voted early and forgotten
and then son or daughter comes around saying 'Ok mum, dad, ready to
vote?'," he said.
Paper copies of the electoral roll will be used where electronic electoral rolls are not available for this federal election.Australia locations trialling the new electronic electoral rollsACT: Canberra and Fraser.NSW: Blaxland, Cowper, Eden-Monaro, Farrer,
Fowler, Gilmore, Lyne, New England, North Sydney, Parkes, Parramatta,
Paterson, Reid, Sydney and Watson.NT: LingiariQLD: Bonner, Bowman, Capricornia, Dawson,
Dickson, Fadden, Fairfax, Fisher, Flynn, Forde, Groom, Herbert,
Hinkler, Kennedy, Leichhardt, Longman, Maranoa, McPherson, Moncrieff,
Oxley, Ryan, Wide Bay and WrightSA: Adelaide, Barker, Grey, Hindmarsh, Port Adelaide and Wakefield.TAS: Bass, Braddon and Denison.VIC: Aston, Ballarat, Calwell, Casey,
Corangamite, Corio, Dunkley, Flinders, Gellibrand, Gippsland,
Goldstein, Gorton, Hotham, Jagajaga, Kooyong, Mallee, Maribyrnong,
McMillan, Melbourne Ports, Scullin and Wills.WA: Brand, Canning, Curtin, Durack, Forrest, Fremantle, Hasluck, O'Connor, Perth, Swan and Tangney.

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